DMX Krew - Wave Funk

DMX Krew - Wave Funk
Edward Upton has been tapping away on Moogs, 303s and 909s for the better part of 20 years. And not just under his most well known moniker, DMX Krew either. Asylum Seekers, Michael Knight and Viet Cong are just three of the many pseudonyms to have hosted the English producer's throwback acid house and electro. Yet despite his prolific output, Upton has remained relatively obscure.

The reasons for that are rather hard to pin down, as the producer's sound has largely remained dance floor functional throughout his career. Followers of Aphex Twin's Rephlex Records should be familiar with much of Upton's catalogue, or at least some of it. His 1998 vocal breakbeat effort "You Can't Hide Your Love" stands as his most recognised release, while his cosmic house excursion "Come to Me" was recently picked up by Permanent Vacation.

Wave Funk is comprised of two discs: "Wave Funk" and "Prolapse of the Wave Function." The first has 17 new efforts, while the second features 18 cuts previously only found on vinyl released from 2004-2005 as part of Upton's The Collapse of the Wave Function 12-inch collection. Noticeably, the vast majority of tracks across both discs don't reach the four-minute mark, with many not making it past two.

Sonically, the first disc covers a lot of ground, with BPMs ranging from the low 80s right through to two excursions over 130 on "Parking Orbit" and the kick-free "Neon Slime." Though many of the tracks would serve as handy DJ tools, Upton doesn't like to mess around with mix-friendly intros and outros. (You'd be hard pressed finding eight bars that would easily fit a beat match across the entire 17 tracks.) While a broken beat is still primarily his style of choice, Upton does excel with the 4/4 every so often. "Cherry Moon," for example, is a throwback to acid house, a multi-layered synth excursion that soars and dips atop of a reverberated Roland kick. Further along, "Zero Gravity Acrobatics" is in a similar vein, with a stabbing bassline that ticks along while an oscillating synth works its magic. The reductionist house of "Jupiter Mission" sees Upton further take on the 4/4 form with a subtle electro house twist, while the analogue grunt of "Metro 1990" closes out the disc.

Disc two is a significant change of pace. Those after Upton's more leftfield side should find plenty to love. The broken beat reigns supreme, with the warped funk of "Space" followed by downtempo minimal glitch on "Flanging." While DJs would be hardpressed to find more than a handful of floor-ready cuts, the sheer scope of the selection lends itself to some interesting listening. Upton has done well in presenting two diverse musical landscapes and having them both, for the most part, flow nicely from start to finish.